Silicon Photonics: A Marriage of Optical and Digital on GF’s RF Process

GlobalFoundries and SiPh startup Ayar Labs have been collaborating since 2016 on a monolithic solution for in-package optical interconnects

“It requires a very delicate balance to have the photonics and the RF CMOS circuits on the same chip. By integrating it all into silicon, we are taking advantage of the scale, costs, and process control of silicon manufacturing.” – GF Vice President Anthony Yu

By Dave Lammers

When GlobalFoundries (GF) acquired IBM Microelectronics in 2015, it received access to a treasure trove of R&D in silicon photonics (SiPh), work that is now moving into the general availability phase on 300mm wafers. The ramp-up comes in time to make a single-chip SiPh design from a key partner, California-based startup Ayar Labs, which has created a monolithic design that sets new benchmarks for package-to-package interconnect in terms of bandwidth, power consumption, and latency.

Anthony Yu, vice president of GF’s Computing and Wired Infrastructure Business Unit, said GF took IBM’s nine years of photonics research and “industrialized” the 90nm process, known as 90WG. “We made it work in Fishkill on 300mm wafers, and it is in production now. What GF has done is to position ourselves as a high-volume producer of transceiver parts,” he said.

For several years GF has been building components for optical transceivers with its silicon-germanium process (9HP) at its Fab 9 near Burlington, Vermont. Those solutions – laser drivers, transimpedance amplifiers (TIAs), and other discrete components – are used in the “pluggable” multi-chip photonics modules used in data centers and other markets to connect racks of servers via fiber links across mid-range distances.

GF’s 45CLO process combines digital RF functions with the optical devices required
for a SiPh monolithic solution. (Source: GLOBALFOUNDRIES)

Optical connections are set to move to a new phase, in which the pluggable optical transceivers are replaced by having the photonics link connected to a high-performance IC in the same package, with an external laser providing the light source. That package connects over fiber to another module with a photonics link, creating package-to-package interconnects at high speeds and much lower power consumption.

Called MIPO for monolithic in-package optics, MIPO I/O integrates Ayar Labs’ opto-electronic chiplets, named TeraPHY, inside a multi-chip package (MCP). The MIPO I/O chiplets from Ayar Labs are in the engineering sampling stage now, after several years of collaborative work with GF. Intel, a pioneer in the silicon photonics field, is an early adopter of the Ayar Labs solution, with an initial goal of connecting its FPGAs (field-programmable gate arrays) with other modules.

Yu said while there are other startups in the field, and the giant data center companies are working on their own designs, Ayar Labs is “one of early designers of a terabit solution. They are very progressive and highly collaborative,” adding that he believes the Ayar Labs monolithic chiplets are “an industry game-changer.”

High-volume manufacturing is one key to creating
cost-effective photonics solutions. (Source: Ayar Labs)

Putting the photonics functions on the same chip as the electronic control circuitry is an interesting challenge. The chips combine the electrical interface, the digital circuitry, and the high-speed analog mixed-signal circuits with the optical components on the same piece of silicon. “It requires a very delicate balance to have the photonics and the RF CMOS circuits on the same chip. By integrating it all into silicon, we are taking advantage of the scale, costs, and process control of silicon manufacturing,” Yu said, adding that the GF-Ayar Labs team paid close attention to the challenges inherent in packaging, assembly, and test.

An Inflection Point

Mark Wade, president, CTO and co-founder of Ayar Labs, said the company was created in 2015 by members of a collaborative multi-university photonics project. The next year, the startup established its partnership with GF. “The industry was at an inflection point. Everyone saw the fundamental limitations of electrical I/O, and predicted that the bag of tricks (to extend electrical interconnects) would go empty around right now,” Wade said, adding that 112 Gbps may be the end of the line for CMOS-based Serdes connections.

Ayar Labs started working on a new solution from the ground up, setting its sights on using optics to fundamentally solve the chip-to-chip bandwidth problem. Optics require far less energy, and can achieve much higher bandwidth, and lower latencies, compared to electrical interconnects. Once into an optical fiber, it does not suffer the distance/bandwidth tradeoff that impacts electrical interconnects.

[For a detailed discussion of the Ayar Labs solution, see: Optical I/O Chiplets Eliminate Bottlenecks to Unleash Innovation]

As Ayar Labs and GF were working on a single-chip solution that would take advantage of high-volume manufacturing, data centers were running out of bandwidth. Machine learning, for example, involves connecting processors and GPUs and high-bandwidth memory in ways that require higher chip-to-chip bandwidth. “The data centers want physically distributed machines, using various components connected with very-high-bandwidth interconnects,” Wade said. “They want to architect new types of systems that are not possible with the current and next generations of I/O.”

The 45CLO process will enable best-in-class optical
as well as digital functions. (Source: GLOBALFOUNDRIES)

RF CMOS Advantages

GF and Ayar Labs collaborated on ways to optimize GF’s 45 RF SOI process for the optical structures and other functions. That technology, developed for the mmWave market, was modified to include photonic function and is now being used to build prototypes.

Wade said the RF SOI CMOS is an “enabling thing, because it allows us to build both transistors and optical devices in the same planar layer. And the SOI process enables extremely fast transistors, faster than most of the advanced nodes built today. They don’t have the same density as the advanced (bulk CMOS) nodes. But In terms of analog performance and Ft and Fmax speeds, they outperform the advanced FinFET nodes that people are using for digital.”

Ayar Labs and GF are working together on GF’s next-generation silicon photonics platform, called 45CLO, which Ayar Labs plans to use for volume production of its parts. “We are working on several things with GF to take the work that we’ve done in pilot production on the 45nm RF SOI, combine it with some of the technologies and processes that GF has from the IBM R&D acquisition, and mix those together to build a highly reliable and manufacturable process to build our solution in 45CLO,” Wade said.

GF’s Yu said the company’s 45CLO monolithic technology will be manufactured at Fab 8 in Malta, New York and plans on qualification of its production process in the second half of 2021.

Ayar Labs CEO Charlie Wuischpard, who was a vice president and general manager in Intel’s Data Center Group before joining Ayar Labs in November 2018, said one optimization in the 45CLO process is a germanium module that “will enable higher performance and allow us to build a really high-performance photo detector. We think the result will be best-in-class optoelectronic performance.”

Wuischpard said integrated optical interconnects can enable dramatic capabilities in new system architectures. “We are still at the early stages of building an optical I/O inside of a CPU package. We need to think of the post-exascale machines. Not today’s supercomputers, but tomorrow’s supercomputers and AI systems.”

From Point A to Point B

Patrick Moorhead, founder, president, and principal analyst of consultancy Moor Insights & Strategy, said “the only way you can make AI and Machine Learning work is to have more data, and that data has to get from point A to point B, and it has to do that very quickly. And it has to get there, in many circumstances, with low latency.”

 Cloud gaming, robotics, robotic surgeons, CV2X car-to-car and car-to-network links, Smart Manufacturing, cellular networks, and other applications, require data centers to handle much larger amounts of data while keeping their energy consumption under control. “We are creating a lot more data at the edge. Whether it is driven by mobility, IoT, or 5G, we are going to have a trillion points out there, and many of them are going back to the data center,” Moorhead said, adding that it is “because of machine learning and AI that we will be able to do useful things with all of that data.”

The industry has reacted to the slowing down of Moore’s Law scaling by turning to heterogeneous computing, using ingenious forms of packaging and chip stacking. As a way to connect one chip with another, silicon photonics could prove to be an attractive option. Photonic links to high-bandwidth memory or accelerators could be more attractive than, for example, using through silicon vias (TSVs), which limit design flexibility.

“Silicon photonics is a new way to have chips talk to each other, using optical links that have the same performance as a PCI Express card or 3D packaging. And at the right volumes, using silicon photonics for off-chip acceleration will be less expensive in the long run,” Moorhead said.

Read Pat’s recent article in Forbes on how GLOBALFOUNDRIES quietly became a force in silicon photonics.

A module including TeraPhy chiplets can connect optically at
higher speeds and lower power. (Source: Ayar Labs)

Optical Provides Some Relief

Bob Wheeler, principal analyst at The Linley Group, said the TeraPhy chiplet from Ayar Labs has 10 optical ports, and takes advantage of wavelength-division multiplexing (WDM) to increase the number of optical signals on a single fiber.

“That has allowed them to pack a lot of bandwidth on the beach front, the linear edge on the face of the chip. At the end of the day how much bandwidth you can get off [the chip] becomes the limiting factor, particularly for an Ethernet switch where you are trying to get tens of terabits on and off.

“What they’ve done is unique in terms of the level of integration and WDM. How they did the implementation, getting the chiplet so small, comes from the Ayar Labs proprietary technology for the modulators and detectors, which are quite tightly packed compared with traditional Mach-Zehnder modulators,” Wheeler said.

Any major technology transition takes time, and Wheeler said optical I/O could start with next-generation Ethernet chips and then migrate to high-end processors and ASICs. “When electrical I/O runs out of steam, optical I/O is the only one to provide some relief.”

Yu, vice president at GF, said silicon photonics – and the optical chip-to-chip connections it enables – will continue to drive platform innovation and new solutions for years to come. With its manufacturing excellence, its deep expertise in SiPh, and the current momentum of its 45CLO monolithic process, GF is positioned to be an industry leader in this space.

“People have been talking about the introduction of silicon photonics for over a decade,” Yu said. “What silicon photonics has going for it, and what GF has in its favor, is to bring value through large scale manufacturing. We have the ability to use 300mm manufacturing, with very tight process controls, to marry the optical and silicon functions in VLSI solutions. We bring our clients an ability to scale their solutions for rapid uptake.”

Click here to learn more about how GlobalFoundries is harnessing the power of light for computing and wired infrastructure.

上海市外商投资协会会长黄峰一行莅临格芯上海考察

今日,上海市外商投资协会黄峰一行赴格芯上海走访考察,与企业负责人就复工维产、疫情防控及在中国市场的发展方向等问题进行深入讨论,听取企业意见和建议。

黄峰会长一行受到格芯中国区高级销售总监韩志勇及另外几位部门负责人的热情接待。格芯中国区总裁及亚洲业务发展高级副总裁Americo Lemos与其他几位同事也在线加入,积极同黄会长就疫情之下的企业运营状况和在中国的发展问题交换意见。

Americo Lemos介绍了格芯在抗击疫情方面所作出的迅速反应和采取的有力措施。在此次危机处理中,格芯全球坚定地遵循两大指导原则:保护全球团队及其家庭和社区的安全和健康;坚定履行对客户的承诺,以客户利益作为行动准则。在疫情期间,格芯采取了及时而周密的措施进行员工健康管理以及供应链风险和应急管理。因而,格芯位于三个不同大洲(北美、欧洲与亚洲)的晶圆厂迄今全部正常运营,最大限度地保证了半导体产业链的不间断供应,保障了中国客户的晶圆供给。到目前为止,格芯的全球业务暂时没有受到冲击。他表示,艰难时期,格芯愿意与中国同行更加密切合作,尽最大能力保障供应链安全。同时,格芯愿意分享全球工厂安全生产经验,与中国半导体行业一同共渡难关。在市场策略方面,格芯对中国市场充满信心,会继续深耕中国市场,做中国半导体行业长期的、可信赖的合作伙伴;同时也计划将自己的特色生产工艺赋能中国合作伙伴做本地化生产,提升中国的半导体生产能力,实现合作共赢。

 

黄峰会长对格芯在疫情期间实施的战略给予了高度肯定,他向格芯介绍了协会在疫情期间为会员企业复工复产所做的工作,并阐释了协会为会员提供的特色服务内容。黄会长还就企业当下遇到的困难及诉求进行了问询,且承诺协会会与企业一同群力群策,解决实际问题。

最后,黄会长诚挚表示协会愿为会员企业提供力所能及的服务和帮助,格芯方面对协会对企业发展给予的支持表示衷心感谢,格芯对于在中国市场的长期发展充满信心。

格芯德累斯顿工厂获得安全产品生产认证

《通用准则》证书为开辟新的解决方案、市场和客户打开绿色通道,完善了格芯位于欧洲的全球安全可靠生产网络

德累斯顿,柏林2020427——根据最新的国际《通用准则》标准(ISO 15408, CC 3.1版),德国联邦信息技术安全局(Bundesamt für Sicherheit in der Informationstechnik, BSI)对格芯(GLOBALFOUNDRIES®)德累斯顿工厂进行了认证。在举办的“虚拟颁证典礼”上,BSI主席阿恩•舍恩博姆(Arne Schönbohm)和萨克森州部长兼总理府负责人Oliver Schenk于今日将证书颁发给格芯德累斯顿工厂高级副总裁兼总经理Thomas Morgenstein博士。

该证书允许格芯德累斯顿工厂生产用于金融交易的芯片、智能卡、数字身份证以及用于公共部门或其它行业需要更高级别安全性和完整性的产品和应用程序。在过去的两年内,格芯德累斯顿工厂已投资数百万欧元,将其安全和信息技术系统升级至最高水平。荷兰半导体公司恩智浦(NXP)一直是格芯德国工厂认证过程中的关键推动者。作为公司倍受信赖的格芯盾牌计划的一部分,德累斯顿工厂与格芯在新加坡和美国的工厂一并获得了业内、客户和政府最高安全生产标准的认证。

“BSI已证实,我们的所有系统和流程都符合国际《通用准则》ISO规范的最高标准,”格芯德累斯顿工厂负责人Thomas Morgenstein表示,“这是德累斯顿工厂的一个里程碑,因为它使我们能够应对全新的高标准市场。随着芯片在我们的日常生活和经济中变得越来越普遍,对安全及可靠芯片的需求在未来几年将会增长。我们非常高兴格芯德累斯顿工厂有新的机会为硬件安全生产做出更多贡献。我们致力于成为最受客户信赖、最安全的晶圆代工合作伙伴。”

“为了顺利扩展规模,从芯片设计到开发的蜂窝式物联网生产链的每个阶段中,安全都至关重要。” Arm互联部门副总裁兼总经理Vincent Korstanje表示,“这一认证证明了在格芯22FDX平台上以成本效益的方式生产安全产品的能力。它满足了那些需要利用这种工艺技术快速开发最高信息安全级别的新应用程序的合作伙伴的需求。”

“BSI给予格芯的认证进一步证明了德累斯顿微电子厂服务的多样性。” 萨克森州部长兼总理府负责人Oliver Schenk表示,“不仅格芯的客户可以从新的安全认证中获益,我们的数字生态系统‘萨克森硅谷(Silicon Saxony)’也得到了加强。特别是现在,我们的感觉相当强烈:我们必须高度重视欧洲的技术主权,才能在一定程度上更加独立于供应商。BSI在德累斯顿附近的弗赖塔尔新成立了分支机构,现在能够作为萨克森自由州的合作伙伴,我为萨克森州的公司甚感欣慰。”

证书与相关文件可于BSI官网浏览。

###

关于格芯

格芯是全球领先的全方位服务半导体代工厂,为世界上最富有灵感的科技公司提供独一无二的设计、开发和制造服务。伴随着全球生产基地横跨三大洲的发展步伐,格芯促生了改变行业的技术和系统的出现,并赋予了客户塑造市场的力量。格芯由阿布扎比穆巴达拉投资公司(Mubadala Investment Company)所有。欲了解更多信息,请访问 https://www.globalfoundries.com/cn

媒体垂询:

杨颖(Jessie Yang)
(021) 8029 6826
[email protected]

邢芳洁(Jay Xing)
86 18801624170
[email protected]

GlobalFoundries Dresden Certified to Manufacture Secure Products

Common Criteria Certificate opens the door for new solutions, markets and customers, completing GF’s global network of Secure and Trusted Manufacturing in Europe 

Dresden / Berlin, 27. April 2020. The German Federal Office for Information Security (Bundesamt für Sicherheit in der Informationstechnik, BSI) has certified the GlobalFoundries® (GF®) Dresden site according to the latest international Common Criteria standard (ISO 15408, CC Version 3.1). In a “virtual ceremony”, the certificate was presented today to Dr. Thomas Morgenstern, SVP and General Manager of GF in Dresden, by Arne Schönbohm, President of the BSI and Minister Oliver Schenk, the head of the Saxony State Chancellery.

The certificate allows GF Dresden to produce chips for financial transactions, smart cards, digital IDs as well as other products and applications for the public sector or industries that require an extra level of security and integrity in the production process. GF Dresden has invested a single-digit million Euro amount over the last two years to upgrade its security and IT systems to the highest levels. The Dutch semiconductor company NXP has been a key driver of the certification process at GF’s site in Germany. The Dresden Fab joins GF’s Singapore and United States facilities in accreditation to the highest industry, client and government criteria for secure manufacturing as part of the company’s trusted GF Shield program. 

“The BSI has attested that all our systems and processes conform to the highest standards of the international Common Criteria ISO norm,” said Thomas Morgenstern, the head of GF Dresden. “This is a milestone for the Dresden site as it allows us to address new and demanding markets. As chips are becoming ever more ubiquitous in our daily life and in our economies, the need for secure and trustworthy chip solutions will grow over the coming years. We are very excited about our new opportunity to further contribute to hardware security made by GF in Dresden. We are committed to being the most trusted and secure Foundry partner for our customers.”

“To scale successfully, security is critical at every stage of the cellular IoT manufacturing chain from chip design to deployment,” said Vincent Korstanje, Vice President and General Manager, Connectivity at Arm. “This certification extends the ability to cost effectively manufacture secure, connected products to Globalfoundries’ 22FDX technology. It provides partners who have the need to rapidly develop new applications with the highest level of information security when using this process technology.”

“The successful certification of Globalfoundries by the BSI is further proof of the diverse range of services offered by the microelectronics location Dresden”, said State Minister and Head of the Saxony State Chancellery Oliver Schenk. “Not only do the customers of Globalfoundries benefit from the new security certification, but also our digital ecosystem “Silicon Saxony” is strengthened as well. Especially now we feel quite intensely, which high value we have to place on European technology sovereignty in order to be to a certain extent more independent from far away suppliers. And I am pleased for the Saxon companies that the BSI, with its newly founded branch office in Freital near Dresden, is now also directly available as a partner in the Free State of Saxony”.

The certificate and related documents can be found here at the BSI website. 

About GlobalFoundries

GlobalFoundries (GF) is the world’s leading specialty foundry. GF delivers differentiated feature-rich solutions that enable its clients to develop innovative products for high-growth market segments. GF provides a broad range of platforms and features with a unique mix of design, development and fabrication services. With an at-scale manufacturing footprint spanning the U.S., Europe and Asia, GF has the flexibility and agility to meet the dynamic needs of clients across the globe. GF is owned by Mubadala Investment Company. For more information, visit www.globalfoundries.com.

GlobalFoundries Dresden (GFD) in Germany is one of the most productive and advanced wafer fabs in the world and serves GlobalFoundries’ customers around the globe with innovative semiconductor products in 22nm, 28nm, 40nm and 55nm technologies on 300mm wafers. With about 3,200 highly skilled professionals and a total clean room floor space of more than 50.000 m2, GF Fab 1 is Europe’s leading foundry. The range of services is complemented by the adjacent  Advanced Mask Technology Center (AMTC), a joint venture between Toppan Photomasks, Inc. and GF, as well as a Bump-Test-Facility directly at the GF Dresden site. To date, more than US$ 12 billion have been invested in the Dresden operations. 

晶圆厂后端交钥匙服务加速5G时代的到来

格芯在RF/毫米波、测试和封装方面的专业知识可帮助客户以更迅速快捷且更经济高效的方式将产品推向市场

撰文:Gary Dagastine

1888年,伟大的物理学家海因里希·赫兹(Heinrich Hertz)证实了无线电波的存在,自此以后,世界发生了翻天覆地的变化。他的发现促成了新型通信技术的诞生,彻底改变了人们的生活和工作方式,并催生了许多新的产业。

如今,130多年过去了,随着基于RF/毫米波(mmWave)的新技术推动着越来越多的人参与并投资5G、移动和无线基础设施应用,无线电波再一次在全球产生了革命性的影响。

半导体便是最近这次通信革命的核心,而作为RF/毫米波解决方案的全球领先晶圆厂,格芯在其中扮演着至关重要的角色。除了用于晶圆制造的可靠的差异化RF平台,格芯还凭借出色的专业知识,向客户提供一系列晶圆厂后端交钥匙服务——涉及从晶圆成品到卷带封装的每一个环节。

晶圆厂后端功能是成功的关键

晶圆厂后端组装、测试和先进封装功能是成功生产出RF/毫米波集成电路(IC)的关键,由于这些频率的物理特性非常复杂,所以准确表征和测试这些设备变得极其困难。企业需要在降低成本的同时提高产量、产品质量以及可靠性,以满足不断发展的市场需求,上述晶圆厂后端功能对此发挥着关键作用。

无论客户规模及商业模式如何,格芯都可以向其提供晶圆厂后端交钥匙服务。这里有两种极端:一种是初创公司,主要致力于产品设计,但几乎不能提供晶圆厂后端功能;另一种是大型公司,他们同样致力于产品设计,但就RF/毫米波而言,可能不具备复杂晶圆厂后端活动的专业知识或能力。这两种客户以及介于二者之间的客户通常都会与格芯合作,让格芯为其管理这些晶圆厂后端活动。

格芯利用公司丰富的RF专业知识为客户提供各种服务,包括专有的RF/毫米波测试技术、符合客户特定需求的灵活参与模式,还包括2015年收购IBM Microelectronics而获得的数十年RF技术经验以及在此基础上铸就的专业供应链管理能力。

值得一提的是,格芯内部RF/毫米波测试能力,称为板载测试(ToB),代表了一种全新的毫米波IC测试模式。传统的高量产制造测试设备无法在生产环境下经济有效地执行所需的毫米波IC测试,例如:测量线性度和输出功率、验证移相器性能以及验证噪声指数。格芯在开发ToB解决方案方面已经投入了数百万美元,较之于机架堆叠式系统,这种基于IBM技术的模块化即插即用系统可将测试成本降低3-5倍。

统一方法

随着5G毫米波应用越来越复杂,需要全面考虑前端和后端因素的统一设计/生产方法,以实现所需的毫米波IC性能和可靠性。

格芯移动和无线基础设施业务部副总裁Peter Rabbeni认为,封装是决定毫米波设备性能的关键一环。他说,如果只将封装视为一种后端功能,客户可能会面临晶圆厂后端复杂性的问题,他们可能需要额外的时间来解决此类问题,从而可能会错失市场发展机会。

他表示:“仅仅测试这些频率下晶圆级的产品性能是远远不够的。封装后的成品必须在实际的无线操作中符合规范要求。”格芯在RF技术方面的专业知识以及公司独特的内部RF测试能力是帮助客户满足这一要求的强大工具。Rabbeni例举了5G基站设计人员所面临的一个典型问题:如何对基站中的功率放大器(PA)进行优化设计,以平衡可靠性和可实现的输出功率,从而使手机能够接收到其传输的信号。

Rabbeni表示:“信号强度当然是关键,但调制峰值和谷值让人难以确定如何驱动PA。如果PA强度过高,不仅会影响信号质量,还会影响PA的使用寿命;但如果PA强度过低,效率就会大大降低。最佳功率和可靠性之间存在一个实现最优覆盖的‘平衡点’。这也有助于优化实现所需覆盖要使用的基站数量,从而最终降低运营商的资本支出和运营费用。”

Rabbeni还说:“要想快速且经济有效地确定这个平衡点,关键是能够准确地模拟PA性能,并表征PA在任何调制条件下的可靠性。格芯工艺设计套件集成了我们大量的RF知识产权,实现设备可靠性和性能建模,同时还使客户能够快速轻松地进行这些模拟。”

此外,通过格芯的晶圆厂后端交钥匙服务,客户能够利用我们内部专家的专业知识来制定适宜的解决方案。格芯移动和无线基础设施部RF交钥匙业务线经理Jeff Pauza解释道:“如果客户的设计将焊球置于芯片的底部,这是很常见的位置,由于热性能和其他与特定应用相关的影响,可能会生产出不可靠甚至不安全的产品。也许客户没有意识到这一点,或者只是在设计I/O时没有考虑到这一点。”

Pauza说:“我们拥有丰富的RF设计经验,所以我们清楚哪些版图可以减少此类影响,而且我们的技术专家也可以提供建议,帮助客户缩短其产品上市时间。当客户意识到我们,也就是他们的代工厂,实际上也是RF设备的测试和封装专家,而且他们不需要出去找其他人进行RF设备测试和封装,或与OSAT(外包半导体组装和测试提供商)建立单独关系并自己管理复杂的全球供应链时,他们就会发现我们的优势。”

展望

除了5G,格芯晶圆厂后端交钥匙服务在未来几年很有可能变得越来越重要。负责流片、掩膜和生产后操作的格芯副总裁Guido Uberreiter认为,未来RF/毫米波将广泛用于人工智能、云计算、汽车和其他应用的先进逻辑芯片中。

他说:“展望未来,你会发现越来越多的应用与人工智能和云计算有关。下一波客户(其中许多是中小型企业)希望将RF与汽车雷达等产品的逻辑结合起来,他们需要找到一种解决方案。以经济有效的方式快速构建RF SoC(片上系统)。

他们不希望反复地将芯片发送至世界各地,而我们的优势正好能够满足其需求。例如,我们在德累斯顿有一个焊接球和测试中心,到目前为止,主要专注于逻辑芯片业务,因为20年来我们在德累斯顿一直为客户生产先进的逻辑IC。如今,我们对格芯德累斯顿Fab 1和马耳他Fab 8的产品进行焊接球测试,然后将通过测试的晶圆发送给客户。我们将升级这些服务,纳入RF专业知识,并针对40-80 GHz频段提供特殊的专业服务。”

Uberreiter说,格芯的晶圆厂后端交钥匙服务深受客户欢迎,因为许多客户都需要安全的供应链。“测试涉及使用大量IP,许多客户将工作交托于我们,因为他们了解并信任我们。这也是我们成为欧洲最大测试中心的原因之一。”

总而言之,作为全球领先的特殊工艺半导体代工厂,晶圆厂后端交钥匙服务是格芯及其技术脱颖而出的另一种途径。

Uberreiter表示:“我们不仅向客户提供差异化技术解决方案,我们还提供差异化服务,助力实现快速、优质、低成本的生产,并最终帮助客户缩短产品上市时间。”

Accelerating the Arrival of 5G with Post-Fab Turnkey Services

GF’s expertise in RF/mmWave, testing, and packaging helps clients bring their products to market faster and more cost-effectively

by Gary Dagastine

The world was never the same after the brilliant physicist Heinrich Hertz proved the existence of radio waves in 1888. His discoveries led to new communications technologies that revolutionized how people lived and worked, and spawned many new industries.

Now, more than 130 years later, radio waves are once again revolutionizing the world, as new RF/millimeter-wave (mmWave)-based technologies drive growing interest and investments in 5G, mobile, and wireless infrastructure applications.

Semiconductors are at the heart of this latest revolution in communications, and GLOBALFOUNDRIES (GF) is playing a key role as the world’s leading foundry for RF/mmWave solutions. But in addition to a portfolio of differentiated and proven RF platforms for wafer fabrication, GF also offers clients unparalleled expertise in an array of post-fab turnkey services – along every step of the way, from finished wafer to tape-and-reel.

Post-Fab Functions are Critical to Success

Post-fab assembly, test, and advanced packaging functions are critical to the successful production of RF/mmWave integrated circuits (ICs) because the physics at these frequencies is complex, which makes it extremely difficult to accurately characterize and test these devices. These post-fab functions play a key role in keeping costs low while simultaneously delivering the high production volumes, high quality, and high reliability needed to meet growing market demands.

GF offers post-fab turnkey services to clients of all sizes who may have very different business models. The two extremes are startups focused primarily on product design and have very little capability in resourcing post-fab functions, and larger companies who also are focused on design but may not have the expertise or capability in complex post-fab activities for RF/mmWave. Clients of both types, and those in between, often engage GF to manage these post-fab activities for them.

GF’s services are based on extensive in-house RF expertise and include proprietary RF/mmWave testing technology, flexible engagement models to fit a client’s particular needs, and expert supply chain management based on decades of experience with RF technologies gained as part of the IBM Microelectronics acquisition in 2015.

In particular, GF’s in-house RF/mmWave test capability, called tester-on-board (ToB), represents a new testing paradigm for mmWave ICs. Traditional high-volume manufacturing test equipment is unable to cost-effectively perform the required testing of mmWave ICs in production environments – including, for example, measuring linearity and output power, verifying phase shifter performance, and validating noise figures. GF has invested millions of dollars developing its ToB solution, a modular plug-and-play system based on technology developed at IBM that reduces the cost of testing by 3-5 times versus rack-and-stack systems.

A Unified Approach

The increased complexity that comes with 5G mmWave applications calls for a unified design/production approach, taking into account front- and back-end considerations holistically in order to get the desired performance and reliability from a mmWave IC.

Packaging is a critical component in determining the performance of mmWave devices, said Peter Rabbeni, GF’s vice president of Mobile and Wireless Infrastructure. If packaging is regarded just as a back-end function, he said, clients may get bogged down in post-fab complexities, which could require additional time and, in turn, potentially result in missing a window of opportunity in the market.

“It’s not sufficient to simply test product performance at the wafer level at these frequencies. The specifications must be met in actual over-the-air operation through finished, packaged products,” he said. GF’s expertise with RF technologies and the company’s unique in-house RF testing capabilities are powerful tools that help clients meet this requirement. Rabbeni gave as an example a typical challenge faced by 5G base station designers: how to optimally design the power amplifier (PA) in a base station to balance reliability and achievable output power so that a handset can pick up its transmitted signal.

“Signal strength is key, of course, but there are modulation peaks and valleys that make it hard to know exactly how hard to drive the PA,” Rabbeni said. “Drive the PA too hard and you not only compromise signal quality but also PA lifetime. Drive the PA too weak and you leave efficiency on the table. There’s a ‘sweet spot’ that balances optimum power and reliability for optimum coverage. This also helps optimize the number of base stations needed to get the required coverage,” and ultimately minimizes operator capital expenditures and operating expenses, he said.

“The key to determining this sweet spot quickly and cost-effectively is having the ability to accurately simulate the performance of the PA and to characterize its reliability under any set of modulation conditions,” Rabbeni said. “GF’s process design kits incorporate our extensive RF intellectual property for device reliability and performance modeling and enable clients to perform these simulations quickly and easily.”

In addition, GF’s post-fab turnkey services enable clients to tap into the expertise of in-house experts to develop the best possible solutions. Jeff Pauza, RF turnkey business line manager for GF’s Mobile and Wireless Infrastructure unit, explained: “Let’s say a client’s design has the solder ball placements located on the bottom of the die, which is common. This could result in an unreliable or even unsafe product, depending on thermal and other effects that may relate to a specific application. Maybe the client isn’t aware of this, or simply hasn’t taken it into consideration in laying out the I/O.

“From our extensive experience with RF designs, we know what types of layouts are required to mitigate such effects, and our technical experts are available to clients to advise them and get their product to market faster,” Pauza said. “When clients realize that we, their foundry, are actually also expert in the testing and packaging of RF devices, and that they don’t have to go out and find someone else to do this for them, or set up separate relationships with OSATs [outsourced semiconductor assembly and test providers] and manage the complexities of global supply chains themselves, they see the advantages.”

Looking Ahead

Beyond 5G, GF’s post-fab turnkey services are likely to become even more important in the years to come. Guido Uberreiter, GF’s vice president of Tapeout, Mask and Postfab Operations, sees a future where RF/mmWave capabilities increasingly are added to state-of-the-art logic chips for AI, cloud computing, automotive, and other applications.

“As you look to the future you see an increasing number of applications that have to do with AI and cloud computing. This next wave of clients – many of which will be small and mid-sized companies – will want to combine RF with logic for such things as automotive radar, and they will need to find a solution to build RF SoCs (system-on-chip) in a way that is both the most cost-effective and very fast,” he said.

“They don’t want to have to send chips around the world many times, and this plays exactly to our strengths. In Dresden, for example, we have a center of excellence for bump-and-test, until now essentially dedicated to logic chips, given our 20-year history of producing advanced logic ICs in Dresden for clients. Today, we take the output from GF Fab 1 in Dresden, and Fab 8 in Malta, then bump, test, and send the tested wafers to clients. We will evolve these services to include the specialized RF expertise, and deliver them in an exceptional way for the 40-80 GHz range,” he said

GF’s post-fab turnkey services are also attractive to clients, Uberreiter said, because many customers require a secure supply chain. “Testing involves working with a lot of IP, and many customers ask us to do it because they know us and trust us. That is one of the reasons why we have become the largest test facility in Europe.”

Overall, post-fab turnkey services are another way in which GF differentiates itself and its technology as the world’s leading specialty foundry.

“Not only do we offer differentiated technology solutions for our clients, we offer differentiated services that provide a quick, high-quality, and cost-effective path to production and – ultimately – help them get to market faster,” Uberreiter said.

GLOBALFOUNDRIES Qualifies Synopsys’ IC Validator for Signoff Verification on 22FDX Platform

Synopsys, Inc. today announced that GLOBALFOUNDRIES® (GF®) has qualified Synopsys’ IC Validator for its 22FDX® platform. With IC Validator physical verification, customers striving to take advantage of the low-power and performance benefits of GF’s 22-nanometer FD-SOI technology can now quickly verify that their designs meet signoff requirements for manufacturability compliance and maximum yield. Signoff design rule check (DRC), design for manufacturability (DFM), layout vs schematic (LVS) and metal fill runsets and tech files are available today from GF.

格芯在全球疫情期间全力保护员工、客户、社区的安全、健康和福祉

纵观全球,各家公司的业务运营已“一反常态”,陷入剧变。全球COVID-19危机对工业、政府、社区乃至人们的日常生活都产生了前所未有的影响。

为平稳度过这场危机,格芯毫不动摇地坚持以下两大指导原则:保护全球团队及其家庭和社区的安全和健康;履行对客户的承诺。格芯公司将这两项任务作为头等大事,采取有力措施,既保护员工的安全健康,又维持制造业务运营。

作为全球领先的特殊工艺半导体代工厂,格芯在全球供应链中扮演着独特的角色。格芯的半导体技术对于很多行业至关重要,包括医疗保健、通信、基础设施和安防等。有鉴于此,格芯被纽约州和佛蒙特州以及美国联邦政府和新加坡政府指定为“必需的制造商”。

为了在全球疫情期间保持生产,格芯动态调整了公司规程、安全和健康措施以及业务流程,以保护公司团队,维持精良制造工艺,从而顺应目前的形势。

保护员工

格芯采取了一系列全面的措施来保护员工。在全球各地,格芯针对所有非晶圆厂员工和非运营员工启动了居家远程工作政策,这其中包括众多职能部门的员工,从人力资源和财务部门到法务和采购部门。甚至很多工程师也能够远程监控生产工具和开展分析工作。

为了保护那些坚守在晶圆厂现场的生产岗位员工,格芯实施了严格的现场控制。这些措施包括对进入格芯工厂的所有访客进行严格筛查,每天对所有员工进行体温筛查。从4月6日开始,在现场工作的所有员工必须佩戴口罩,预防病毒传播。

在晶圆厂内部,格芯颁布了强制性的社交距离要求。其他措施还包括限制现场会议的人数、减少餐厅的座位容量、在某些区域的地板上划出2米间隔线、让进入晶圆厂洁净室的员工错开使用更衣室等。

近期接受《IEEE Spectrum》杂志采访时,格芯高级副总裁兼美国晶圆厂运营总经理Ron Sampson表示,公司做出的另一项改变是尽可能将运营员工的会议地点转移到晶圆厂洁净室,从污染的角度来看,这是全世界最清洁的地方之一。采访内容:

一旦员工更衣完毕,进入洁净室,他们就可以充分利用这个工作空间。Sampson说:“这是世界上最清洁的地方之一。我们将所有运营会议转移到车间内进行”,而不是在会议室内让团队成员保持距离。

通过晶圆厂的轮班制度和公司的居家远程办公政策,格芯大幅减少了任何特定时间在现场工作的员工人数。社交距离和其他政策也有助于尽可能确保这些员工的安全。

https://www.globalfoundries.com/sites/default/files/image_2.jpg

对于所有员工,格芯提供了新的加强福利,旨在帮助团队成员保持健康,照顾家人,应对由于疫情产生的其他挑战。这些福利包括紧急带薪假期,适用于无法现场或远程工作的员工;还包括隔离带薪假期,适用于被医生或医疗机构要求隔离的员工。

此外,为了鼓励继续在晶圆厂内进行生产工作的员工,格芯新增了嘉许奖。此奖金将于五月底发放,适用于高管团队之外的需要在现场工作并已经完成相关安排的员工。

保护社区

格芯知道,在工作场所之外,疫情已经影响到了员工的日常生活。这场危机还影响到了员工的家人、朋友和社区。

格芯客户设计工程高级副总裁Mike Cadigan近期表示:“我们必须作为一个社区团结在一起 — 不仅是格芯社区,更是全球社区,这比以往任何时候都更加重要。全球就是一个休戚与共的大社区,需要彼此互助。”Cadigan也是格芯GlobalGives社区影响计划的共同发起人。

格芯认识到这种需求,已承诺捐赠逾100万美元,为本地社区提供支持。其中一半资金将捐给格芯晶圆厂和办事处所在地的地区性非盈利机构。此前,我们为格芯工厂附近的食品银行提供了10,000美元的疫情相关捐款,捐助对象包括德克萨斯州中部食品银行、佛蒙特州食品银行、哈德逊谷食品银行、萨拉托加县商机理事会、硅谷第二丰收食品银行,以及新加坡的英勇基金。

https://www.globalfoundries.com/sites/default/files/image_3.jpg

另一半资金将用于扩大格芯的GlobalGives配捐计划。在2020年余下时间内,格芯将为所有符合条件的员工捐款提供2:1的配捐(最高2,500美元)。此前,格芯为联合国基金会捐款25,000美元,用于资助世界卫生组织的COVID-19应对举措,还为美国灾难慈善中心捐款,用于为全世界疫情最严重地区的一线医疗人员提供物资和救济。

另外,格芯高层领导团队成员还为全球各地的非盈利性组织进行了总计超过100,000美元的个人捐款,旨在帮助受全球疫情影响的人们。

格芯还主动为COVID-19感染风险最高的人员提供个人防护装备(PPE)。公司捐赠了大量装备,包括医用口罩、手套和防护服,支援所在地区的本地医院和应急响应组织,我们还在积极寻求更多的个人防护物资,为有需要的人们提供帮助。

https://www.globalfoundries.com/sites/default/files/image_4.jpg

保护和连通世界

在全球各国,半导体都是家庭、个人、社区、政府以及企业高度依赖的技术,不可或缺。半导体还是很多医疗设备中电子元件的关键技术,包括那些对抗击全球疫情至关重要的设备。

例如,很多先进的移动诊断设备都采用了格芯技术,医护人员使用这些设备来监测患者,诊断其是否患有肺炎,是否存在与COVID-19相关的肺部症状。这些设备为抗击疫情一线的医生和护士所用,可以更有效地诊治感染病毒的患者。

此外,格芯半导体技术还在IBM超级计算机中得到应用,这些超级计算机是COVID-19高性能计算联盟的核心设备。通过这种合作,政府、工业界和学术界可以齐心协力,提供全世界最强大的高性能计算资源,支持抗击疫情。

在远离抗疫一线的地方,数以百万计的个人和家庭的日常生活也受到了影响,他们需要居家工作,或者参与在线学习。无线设备在人们的生活中扮演着前所未有的重要角色,而格芯技术帮助人们实现了远程办公和远程学习。当今85%以上的智能手机都采用了格芯RF技术,这些技术也应用于其他无线设备,例如笔记本电脑、智能扬声器、Wi-Fi路由器、基站塔,以及其他无数应用场合。

https://www.globalfoundries.com/sites/default/files/image_5.jpg

保护客户

3月23日致客户和合作伙伴的公开信中,格芯公司首席执行官Tom Caulfield报告说,格芯晶圆厂达到了90%至100%的生产目标。

这一成功部分归功于格芯的危机管理团队,包括公司层面和下属各家工厂的团队成员,他们不断为员工提供实时指导,根据公共健康指南来持续更新政策。危机管理团队每天召开会议,一旦在某个工厂或地区出现新问题,都能快速发现、上报和解决。

但是,成功保持业务连续性的主要原因要归于格芯员工,他们尽心尽力,为公司和客户付出了巨大的努力。

Caulfield重点提到了一个例子,由于马来西亚与新加坡的边境关闭,公司将450名马来西亚团队成员临时转移到新加坡,目的是保持格芯在新加坡的正常运营。很多马来西亚员工无法进行这次临时转移,但他们收到了新设备,可以很方便地居家远程办公,格芯IT团队在数小时之内采购好这些设备,并且针对格芯安全和远程访问政策进行了设置。

战略性采购计划也增强了格芯制造业务的连续性。即使是在正常运营条件下,公司也可在数天内维持关键物资的供应,以防出现潜在或无法预测的供应中断。随着COVID-19危机继续恶化,公司进一步加强了供应工作,格芯采购团队加倍努力,确保格芯晶圆厂的原材料供应。

格芯的一大关键优势是与客户的密切协作和合作。这些关系有赖于频繁的面对面互动。和众多公司一样,格芯已将大多数此类互动转为虚拟会议的方式。这需要对格芯的IT基础设施进行一些调整,实际上,远程协作进展顺利,当前项目没有中断,刚启动的新项目也没有受到损害。

https://www.globalfoundries.com/sites/default/files/image_6.jpg

展望

格芯预测这场全球性的危机将会持续多久?格芯高级副总裁兼美国晶圆厂运营总经理Sampson表示,没有人可以给出确切的答案。

他说:“这场疫情不可能一夜之间就恢复正常。就性质而言,这将是一场持久的危机。我们认识到了这一点,正在相应地进行规划。”

Sampson表示,作为全世界重要的半导体技术制造商,格芯及其员工正全力以赴,共克时艰。他说,没有人知道疫情危机过后的“新常态”是什么样的,但格芯及其员工团队处于非常有利的地位,能够从容面对和克服可能出现的任何障碍。

格芯公司首席执行官Caulfield表示,无论这场危机如何演进,公司最关注的问题仍然是员工的健康和安全,以及履行对客户的承诺。

Caulfield告诉员工:“半导体行业是推动世界经济发展的燃料,格芯在这个行业中的地位举足轻重。我们将携手度过这场危机,打造更优秀的公司和更优秀的团队,对全世界发挥更关键的作用。”

GLOBALFOUNDRIES Commits to the Safety and Well-being of its Employees, Clients, and Communities Amidst the Global Pandemic

For companies around the world, the idea of “business as usual” has been thrown into upheaval. The global COVID-19 crisis is impacting industry, government, communities, and daily life in unprecedented ways.

GLOBALFOUNDRIES is managing through the crisis with an unwavering focus on two guiding principles: the safety and well-being of our worldwide team, their families and communities; and delivering on our commitments to our clients. With these priorities in mind, the company has taken extraordinary steps to safeguard both its workforce and its manufacturing operations.

As the world’s leading specialty foundry, GF has a unique role in the global supply chain. Its semiconductor technology is vital to a range of industries, including health care, communications, infrastructure, and security. Because of this vital role, GF has been designated an “essential manufacturer” by the states of New York and Vermont, as well as by the federal governments of the United States and Singapore.

To meet this charge of continuing production amidst a global pandemic, GF has adapted to the situation by dynamically adjusting its protocols, health and safety measures, and business processes to protect its team while maintaining manufacturing excellence.

Protecting Employees

GF has a comprehensive series of measures in place to care for its employees. Around the globe, GF has initiated a work-from-home policy for all non-fab and non-operational employees, which includes colleagues across a wide spectrum of functions, from human resources and finance to legal and procurement. Even many engineers are able to monitor production tools and perform analytics remotely.

To protect employees whose work is directly related to production, and who continue to work “on-site” at the fabs, GF has implemented stringent site controls. These include strict screening of any visitors entering a GF facility, as well as daily temperature screenings of all employees. As of April 6, all employees working on site are required to wear face masks in a continued effort to limit the spread of the virus.

Inside the fabs, GF has enacted mandatory social distancing. Among these measures are capping the number of attendees at in-person meetings, reducing the seating capacity in cafeterias, mapping out 2-meter intervals on the floor in certain areas, and alternating gowning rooms used by employees entering Fab cleanrooms.

In a recent interview with IEEE Spectrum, Ron Sampson, GF senior vice president and general manager of U.S. fab operations, said another change has been moving meetings of the operational staff, whenever possible, to the fab’s cleanroom, which are among the cleanest places on Earth from a contamination perspective. From the interview:

Once employees are suited up and in the clean room, they’re taking advantage of it. “It’s one of the cleanest places on earth,” says Sampson. “We’ve moved all of our operations meetings onto the factory floor itself,” instead of having physically separated team members in a conference room.

Between the shift structure at its fabs, and the company’s work-from-home policy, GF has significantly reduced the number of employees who are on site at any given time. Social distancing and other policies are helping to ensure these employees are as safe as possible.

For all employees, GF has introduced new and enhanced benefits to help team members remain healthy, care for family members, and face other challenges arising from the pandemic. These include emergency paid leave for employees who are unable to work on-site or remotely, and quarantine paid leave for employees who are directed to quarantine by their physician or health authority.

Additionally, to recognize employees who continue to work on-site in fabs, GF announced an appreciation award. At the end of May, this award will be paid to employees – excluding members of the senior leadership team – whose work cannot be done remotely, and who have worked their assigned on-site schedules.

Protecting Communities

GF understands the pandemic is impacting the daily lives of its employees beyond the workplace. It is also impacting their families, friends, and communities.

“Now more than ever, it is important that we pull together as a community — not just a GF community, but a global one. And the global community is in need,” Mike Cadigan, GF senior vice president of client design enablement, recently stated. Cadigan is the executive co-sponsor of GF’s GlobalGives community impact program.

Recognizing this need, GF has committed to donating more than $1 million USD to support local communities. Half of this funding will go toward supporting regional nonprofits in the areas where GF fabs and offices are located. This effort builds upon GF’s earlier COVID-related donations of $10,000 to food banks near GF sites, including the Central Texas Food Bank, Vermont Foodbank, Hudson Valley Food Bank, Saratoga County Economic Opportunity Council, Second Harvest Silicon Valley, and Singapore’s The Courage Fund.

The other half will be used to expand GF’s GlobalGives matching program. For the remainder of 2020, GF will offer 2:1 matching on all qualifying employee donations, up to $2,500 USD. This builds upon GF’s earlier donation of $25,000 USD across the UN Foundation, which is funding the World Health Organization’s COVID-19 response efforts, and the Center for Disaster Philanthropy, to provide supplies and relief to frontline health care workers in the hardest hit regions of the world.

Additionally, members of the GF senior leadership team are making personal contributions totaling more than $100,000 USD to nonprofit organizations around the globe to help those impacted by the global pandemic.

GF is also identifying opportunities to provide personal protective equipment (PPE) to those at greatest risk to COVID-19. The company has made significant equipment donations – including medical-grade masks, gloves, and gowns – to local hospitals and first responder organizations in each of our regions, and is seeking additional PPE materials to help those in need.

Protecting and Connecting the World

Semiconductors are integral to the technology relied upon by families, individuals, communities, governments, and businesses around the world, in every nation. Semiconductors are also a critical enabling technology of electronic components used in many medical devices – including those that are essential to combating the global pandemic crisis.

One example is GF technology powering leading-edge mobile diagnostic devices, which are being used by health care professionals to monitor patients for pneumonia and lung-related symptoms associated with COVID-19. These devices are being used by doctors and nurses on the front line of the crisis to more effectively treat patients afflicted by the virus.

Additionally, GF semiconductor technology helps to power the IBM supercomputers that are at the heart of the COVID-19 High Performance Computing Consortium. The partnership brings together government, industry, and academia to provide access to the world’s most powerful high-performance computing resources, in support of fighting the contagion.

Away from the front lines, daily life has been upended for millions of individuals and families who now find themselves working from home and engaged in online learning. More than ever before, wireless devices are playing a central role in people’s lives, and GF technology is helping to make telework and remote learning possible. More than 85 percent of today’s smartphones feature GF RF technology, which also powers other wireless devices such as laptop computers and smart speakers, as well as wi-fi routers, cell towers, and countless other applications.

Protecting Clients

In a March 23 letter to clients and partners, GLOBALFOUNDRIES CEO Tom Caulfield reported GF fabs were operating at 90 percent to 100 percent of production targets.

Part of this ongoing success is due to GF’s crisis management teams, structured at the corporate level and at each site, who continue to provide real-time guidance for employees and are constantly updating policies in accordance with public health guidance. Teams meet daily, and any emerging issues at a site or within a region can be quickly identified, escalated, and addressed.

The primary reason for this successful business continuity, however, is GF employees and their dedication to the company and its clients.

One standout example Caulfield highlighted are the 450 Malaysian team members who have temporarily relocated to Singapore in response to the Malaysian-Singapore border closing, in order to keep GF operations in Singapore on track. Many of the Malaysian employees who were unable to make the temporary move received new equipment, procured and set up with GF security and remote access within hours by the IT team, to allow them to work from home.

GF manufacturing continuity is also fortified by its strategic sourcing program. Even under normal operating conditions, the company maintains a certain level of “days of supply” of critical inputs, to mitigate against potential or unforeseen supply disruptions. As the COVID-19 crisis continued to worsen, these efforts were amplified and the GF procurement team has doubled down its efforts to secure and reroute source materials to GF fabs.

One of GF’s key strengths is its close collaboration and partnership with its clients. These relationships rely on frequent face-to-face interactions. Like most companies, GF has shifted most of these interactions to virtual encounters. This has involved some adjustments to GF’s IT infrastructure, but the new reality of remote collaboration is progressing well with no disruptions to current projects and no detriment to new projects just getting started.

Looking Ahead

How long does GF expect this global crisis to last? Sampson, the GF senior vice president and general manager of U.S. fab operations, said no one can be sure.

“This is a situation that is not going to return to normal overnight,” he said. “By its very nature, it’s going to be extended. We recognize that and we’re planning accordingly for that.”

As a manufacturer of some of the most vital technology in the world, GF and its employees are in the problem solving business, Sampson said. No one knows what the “new normal” will be after the world emerges from the pandemic crisis, but GF and its workforce of problem solvers are well-positioned to face and overcome any obstacles that present themselves, he said.

Regardless of how the crisis evolves, GF CEO Caulfield said, the company’s primary concerns will continue to be the health and safety of employees, and delivering on commitments to clients.

“The semiconductor industry is the fuel that drives the worldwide economy, and GF is vital to this industry,” Caulfield told employees. “We will get through this crisis together, and emerge a better company, better team, and even more vital to the world.”

Perceive Corporation Launches to Deliver Data Center-Class Accuracy and Performance at Ultra-Low Power for Consumer Devices

Perceive Corporation, an edge inference solutions company, today launched the company and debuted its first product, the ErgoTM edge inference processor. Ergo brings breakthrough accuracy and performance to consumer devices such as security cameras, smart appliances, and mobile phones. The Ergo chip and reference board are currently being sampled to leading customers and are ready for mass production in the second quarter of 2020.